Dear World
by iLuvForevermore
Summary: Ravinia dealt with a troubled past, but now she is looking for a bright and adventurous future. One night a shooting star catches her attention. When she makes a wish to go on an adventure, she believes it does not come true, that is until the next morning.
1. Chapter 1

Dear Journal,

Well, another day has passed and it's time for me to write in you and tell you all of what I've seen today. The sky has been empty of clouds, there has been no rain to feed the crops in the fields, the town has been quiet of late, and that evil being has struck the barn killing most of the livestock. Just another day in the small town of Kleinste; a place of hope which is lost.

During dinner, my mother always told me that things will get better, that 'die Dunkelheit' will soon withdraw from the mountains of the town where he makes his home. She tells me and my father that all the time, and everyday die Dunkelheit always strikes the town damaging something else. First it was the fire in the fields, and then it was the freezing of the water supply, now it was the lightning which struck the barn. I fear he will never leave. The special forces in the town tried to deal with the evil being but to no avail, and I myself along with a few allies tried to get to the top of the mountains to his lair, but we only managed to get halfway and my power itself along with the others (who were only mere mortals) was not enough. I wish that someday we could figure out a way to vanquish him, but for now we could only pray for a savior.

Now I must go journal, I hate to cut this entry short but father is holding mass in the church for tonight and he insist that his family be there.

Sincerely,

Ravinia~

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As the young fox closed the bindings of her book, she lifted herself from the confines of her bed to prepare for yet another night of mass in her father's church.

Ravinia Madeline (pronounced Ma-de-lynn) Albany-Mason was no ordinary girl. The young fox/mountain lion had a long and treacherous past. As a young child she lived in a small home with her father and mother, her mother a mountain lion, her father a wolf. At the young age of 5, Ravinia lost her mother to a terrible illness so she was left with her father who took care of her through thick and thin. Three years later, Ravinia's father set out into town and left the young child by herself saying that he would only be gone for such a short time; he never returned. Day in and day out, young Ravinia waited for her father to return, but he never did and it would soon be time for Ravinia to part with her home since food and other necessities were becoming scarce. She knew how to take care of herself, her mother made sure of that, but she didn't have any money to replenish her needs; so she left.

The wolf roamed the streets of the small town, though it seemed very large to her. The townspeople thought she was just looking for adventure, but in real life, she was looking for a home. A group of thieves that lived in the outskirts of town took a liking to fresh meat and encouraged the 8 year old to join their tribe; she obliged thinking they would give her the love and care that she had lost. Many more years passed and the young girl grew to a young teen at the age of 13. During her time in the band of thieves, she befriended a young dog about her age named Ulrich who soon became her spirited brother in a way. The two teens were inseparable and always looked out for each other. One day, the two were assigned by the head of the tribe to rob the town's church of their donation box that was to be used towards the poor. The wolf and dog banded together to sneak into the halls of the church and claim their treasure. Ulrich urged Ravinia to press on and grab the prize while he stood watch, so she did. She eased her way inside making sure to not disturb the peace. She was just inches away from claiming her prize that is until the Father of the church, Father Kaspar Mason, appeared.

"Dear child, what might I ask are you doing?" The young girl was frozen in her tracks; she didn't know what to do.

"My dear, you are too young; too good for this kind of lifestyle. We have seen the way you live, and you should live a happy life with someone who will give you what you desire; a home, food, a family." That struck a nerve in the young one's heart.

"I am not forcing you to make a decision now, but if you do, my wife and I would be willing to take you in as our own. We've always wanted a child."

Ravinia gave one long glare at the father before darting off down the hall to the outside of the church, without the donation box.

When the young ones returned, the leader was disappointed but figured it wasn't their day. It soon became nightfall and the whole town fell into a peaceful slumber, all but one girl. The young fox fled the hideout of the thieves without a word, and instead left a note for her dear spirited brother to read. Since that night, Ravinia had been living with the Masons in their home near the church, and was raise on Catholic faith. It took many months for her to get accustomed to living with them, let alone addressing them as mother and father, but she was glad that she chose this life for the better.

"Ravinia, we must get going dear. You know how your father is about being on time."

'I'm coming mother!", shouted the young girl as she made her way out of the door now dressed in a champagne colored dress that her mother handmade just for her, a pair of black flats accompanied the dress. She pulled her short locks into a small ponytail in the back and made her way out of the door for mass. Ravinia held her post in one of the two seats that were perched near the podium where her adopted father stood giving another word from the 'man upstairs'. Her adopted mother sat to the right of her directing her ears to the sound of her husband's words as she nodded her head in agreement. Ravinia did not like to sit still for long and kept squirming about in the hard wooden chair throughout the service, her mother would have to swat her on the hand to get her to focus from time to time. The service was now done, Ravinia and her parents bid their fellow neighbors farewell as they filed out of the small church.

"Finally, it is over. I thought it would never have ended," Ravinia said. Her arms outstretched over head as she emitted a slight yawn while strolling down the main isle of the sanctuary. Her parents stared at her from the front of the room.

"Dear, if only you pay attention during the service, then maybe it would not be so boring," replied her mother who made her way down the aisle to place her hands on her daughter's shoulders. The young girl turned to face her mother and replied with a soft tone, "If I could move around some or at least get a comfortable chair, then maybe I would mother."

"But dear, you must act like a young lady in the house of the lord. And young ladies must sit quietly and pay attention."

"Mother, I do not want to be a young lady, I want to be Raven, I want to be me. I can't be somebody that I am not. I am not a girl who sits down and does nothing but listen, I go out there and explore. Life would be boring if I sit around all day."

Her father began to speak, "Ravinia dear, we know how you are. But promise me this, when the time calls for it, be a young lady ok?" Ravinia loved when her father understood her, it reminded her of her birth father who would always back her up on subjects like this. "I understand Father," a sweet smile spreads across her muzzle as it is directed towards her father. The small family made their way out of the church; Kaspar pulled a small ring of keys and used one of them to lock the main door of the church. After a small walk, they ended up at the door of their small home. Kaspar once again pulled the same ring of keys and used another to unlock the door to their abode.

"After you ladies," the young pastor gave a generous bow to the two young women as he offered the way in, they obliged with a few giggles coming here and there. The family settled in for the night; Ravinia once again lounged upon her small bed staring blankly at the ceiling while fishing through her thoughts. "Ugh, I wish I could just go on an adventure and see the world. The closest I get to an adventure is strolling around the crops at night when the crows are out." A small gleam could be seen from the open window of her small room, which caught the young wolf's eye. She eased her way off of the bed and made a small stroll across the room to the bay window. She perched her arms upon the seal; her right hand held her head up. "A shooting star, that is quite odd. I wonder if what Ulrich told me long ago is true.

FLASHBACK XXXX

Hey Raven, it is a shooting star. Ulrich and Raven where lying upon the roof of the old abandoned bakery that lie on the outskirts of town. The young dog raised his hand and pointed a clawed finger to the light glowing rock that shot across the blackened sky.

"A shooting star!?" replied a younger Raven who hugged her knees while pulling the ragged blanket they shared closer to her; the look upon her face was confused.

"Yeah, they are very rare. Legend says if you ever see one in the night sky, make a wish and it will come true. Ulrich then closed his eyes and balled his small hands into fists.

"What are you doing Uli!?"

"I am making a wish."

"Will you tell me what it is?"

"If I tell you that, then it will not come true."

"Oh".

END FLASHBACK XXXXX

Ravinia closed her eyes tight and closed her hands into fists. "Dear old mighty wishing star, I wish to go on the most epic adventure of my life instead of living a normal life. I'm not meant to live like this because I am not a normal person." She then opened her eyes only to see that everything was the same. "I guess it is not real, maybe Uli was just messing with my head back then." The young girl had a disappointed look upon her face as she gently closed the window and prepared to rest for the night.


	2. Chapter 2

Ch.2

"Tails, hurry it up will ya! We have to keep moving until we reach the next town," shouted a certain blue hedgehog that stood near a large rock that hid his younger brother behind. He tapped his foot impatiently against the grass of the vast plains that they were crossing; the wind in the air blew against the soft blue quills of his head making him shiver quite a bit as he pulled his red and white jacket closer to him.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," replied the young kitsune as he made his way from behind the large rock while zipping his cargos in the process. "Do you mind handing me the sanitizer in my bag, top left pocket?" The hedgehog made his way towards' Tails backpack and retrieved a small bottle of sanitizer for him. "Hands out," he said as he flipped the small top of the bottle and emptied a small amount of its contents into Tails' hands.

"Where are the girls?, chimed Tails as he cleansed his hands and turned around from side to side. "They're over there near the pond." Sonic jabbed his thumb behind him towards the pond where three figures hung over the edge; two were pink, the other a cream color.

"Hey Amy, Cream, Cassie we're about to go now," shouted Sonic who waved his hands over his head signaling the girls. "We'll be over there in a sec," replied Amy. The three girls gathered their belongings and trudged their way back towards the boys.

"Look what we found near the lake," Cream held a glimmering teal colored rock in her right hand for the boys to see. "It's really pretty, don't you think?"

"It looks really nice Cream," replied Tails.

"Yeah, yeah, nice, Can we get going now?", chimed Sonic.

"We still need to find Mr. Knuckles," replied the tan rabbit.

"I'm right here!" Everyone turned their heads towards the source of the voice and found Knuckles perched in a nearby tree with his hands holding on to the limb tightly. "Took you long enough for a pee break Tails. What did you do, drink Niagara Falls!?"

"I was thirsty."

"Whatever," the echidna jumped from the limb of the tree and landed on his feet; he straightened the dark brown jacket that he wore and dusted of his green zippered pants while adjusting his signature hat on his head.

"Which way do we need to go to reach the town?" asked Cassie. Tails used his right hand to uncover the GPS tracker that was placed on his wrist. "We need to keep heading Northwest through the plains before we reach the mountain ridge that leads to the town of Kleinste I believe."

Sonic had a confused look upon his face as he looked towards his adopted brother, "What on Mobius is a Klondike, or whatever it is?"

The young fox looked up from his wrist to respond, "I'm a little rusty on German, but I believe that Kleinste means 'small town'."

"A 'small town', doesn't seem like much," responded the blue hedgehog.

"At least we can find a decent place to rest for the night, replied one of the girls followed by a few "yeps" and nods of heads.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Mom, what's with the sudden shopping trip, I thought we went to the market this past weekend?" Ravinia and her mother were making their way through town square. They had just finished shopping and were on their way home to prepare dinner.

"Oh Ravinia dear, it's a very important night tonight."

"What's so special about tonight?" The young wolf had a hard time balancing the many bags that she carried in her arms as she walked.

"Why tonight is the anniversary of you coming into our family." Ravinia was stunned, how could she forget such an important night? She somehow lost her footing and stumbled to the ground; the groceries were sprawled out about her.

"Ravinia," shouted her mother who turned to her daughter to help, "are you alright dear."

"I'm fine mother," she lifted herself off the ground and began to gather the lost groceries and return them to the bags, her mother offered her help. Off in the distance, a certain tan rabbit took notice of the accident and made her way to the scene to offer aid. When Ravinia reached for the loaf of bread, a tan hand reached for it also. Ravinia admired the hand before looking upward to find its owner.

"Looks like you took quite a tumble there, let me help you." Cream began to gather nearby items and returned them to their bags along with Ravinia and soon they had cleaned up the mess.

Both girls stood to their feet and lightly dusted their clothes before turning towards each other. "Thanks so much, umm I didn't catch your name," asked the violet fox while holding her free hand out to Cream.

"Oh, I'm Cream, and glad I could be of help." Cream reached for Ravinia's hand and gave a gentle shake. Soon the sounds of the tan rabbit's name could be heard from a distance in the crowd. Cream could recognize the voices and soon were calling back in response.

"I'm over here you guys." It took quite a few seconds before a friend of hers and a few other peeked through the crowd, Ravinia could tell because they both had a glint in their eyes that shown when you recognized someone. There were three hedgehogs, two pink females who were twins and a blue male, a fox with two tails, and a red echidna.

One of the twin hedgehogs spoke; the one with blue eyes "Cream, we were looking everywhere for you. Why did you run off like that?"

The young Cream looked to her friends with a sad disposition, "I saw that someone needed help, so I came over to help her." She gestures to the violet fox standing to her right. Ravinia gave a sheepish wave to Cream's friends while juggling the few groceries she had in her left arm. "Hi".

The other twin decided to speak, "That's Cream for you, always looking for someone to help out in a jam. Oh, sorry for us to be rude. My name is Amy, this here is my twin sister Cassie, and my friends Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails."

"Nice to meet you all, responded Ravinia, "My name is Ravinia, but everyone knows me as Raven, except for my parents. This here is my mother," she directs their attention to her mother who stood behind her gathering what groceries were left and gave a small wave as well."

"It is nice to meet you all. Are you new around here, we've never seen you all before?" asked Mrs. Mason.

Tails decided to speak this time, "Yes we are, we've been on a long journey and decided to stop here for the night to rest."

"Have you all found a place to stay?"

Sonic decided to speak up, "Sadly no, all the inns we've come across are all packed tonight."

"Why don't you all stay with us tonight," piped Ravinia, she almost spilled the grocery bags in the process.

"Oh no, we couldn't. It wouldn't be right," replied Amy.

"We have plenty of room in our home for guests, right mom?"

"You know, that would be a wonderful idea Ravinia, it's been a long time since we have had guests over, and we cannot have you all sleeping just anywhere tonight."

"Then it's settled, you're staying with us tonight." The others all thanked the two for the generosity and soon were heading to the Mason household.

The Mason household appeared small from the household, but inside it was very spacious. The living room was the biggest room of all, there were two couches and an armchair, a stone fireplace, a large rug to cover the majority of the room and two bookshelves withholding an array of books, novels, guides and art books. The kitchen was large as well with a marble countertop throughout, maple drawers and cabinets, an island that held the stove, and appliances that looked fairly well kept. Sonic and the gang were overwhelmed by the beauty of the home as they walked through; admiring the vaulted ceilings that allowed cool air to circulate, and the various art pieces surrounding the home.

"Make yourselves comfortable, I am going to get dinner started, it's a good thing I bought extra groceries." Mrs. Mason made her way to the kitchen while Ravinia and the others settled themselves in the living room.

"Well, this is our home, what do you guys think?" asked a curious violet fox who took a seat in her father's armchair.

"This is such an amazing house," exclaimed both the twins.

"It's so huge," chimed Cream.

"It's a wondrous place," chided Tails, and both Sonic and Knuckles nodded in agreement.

Mr. Mason, Ravinia's father soon entered the living room from the office area of the home to inspect the noise. "What is all the noise,… oh we have guest."

"Father, these people are going to stay with us tonight. They have traveled a long way and have no place to stay but here."

"Is that so, well how do you do, my name is Kaspar Mason, or Mr. Mason to you all." Each of the newcomers gave a simple hello.

Mrs. Mason soon noticed her husband and piped up from the kitchen. "Hello dear, I'm sorry about the sudden guests but,…" Mr. Mason interrupted his wife. "It's quite all right dear." Mrs. Mason resumes her work in the kitchen.

"Ravinia, why don't you show your guests around the house while your mother prepares dinner?"

"Oh, it would be my pleasure. Also, we can have you put your bags and such away and out of the living room. Follow me." Sonic and the gang gather their belongings and follow behind Ravinia to the second floor of the house which held the guests rooms and her room.

"Now there are only two guests' rooms, so the girls can have one room and the boys the other. If any extra beds or blankets are needed, just let me know and I can pull the cots and blankets from the hall closet. There is only one bathroom on this floor so we will have to share."

"No problem, and thank you again for letting us spend the night," replied Sonic who held his hand out for a shake. Ravinia gladly took his hand and they gave a gentle shake.

"Me, and the girls call this room over here," exclaimed an excited Amy who peeped her head out of the vacant room to the left of the hallway."

"Looks like we three have the room over here," said Tails who made his way into the adjacent vacant room to set his stuff down and get comfortable.

"I'll go check to see how dinner is coming along, you guys hang tight." Ravinia dashed her way down the hall and down the stairs to check on dinner. Meanwhile, the others decided to check out their rooms for the night and make sleeping arrangements.

In the boys' room: "No way are you getting the bed, I call it."

"What makes you think you can get the bed Knucklehead?"

"Because I'm the oldest, that's why."

"Yeah, by about 4 months. Besides, I'm the appointed leader, I should get the bed."

"Yeah right."

Both Sonic and Knuckles were going at it head to head to see who was going to claim the full sized bed for themselves. Tails on the other hand, paid no mind to the two's ranting and merely went about his own business by taking out his laptop and playing Sudoku to pass the time.

In the girls' room: "I think we can all share the bed tonight, it's big enough for all three of us," chided Amy who set about placing her belongings near the dresser in the room. Cassie decided to kick of her combat boots and lay across the bed. She eyed the ceiling; looking off into space.

"It's good to actually find a nice place to rest for the night. It sure does beat sleeping out in the field or in a cave."


End file.
